There's no shortage of people who claim to have undeniable proof of the supernatural, paranormal, or extraterrestrial.
Some are obsessed with the idea that aliens or other lifeforms outside of our planet exist and have visited Earth. But a far more common belief (and one that people tend to more often claim that they can "prove") is that ghosts exist.
The idea that there is a spiritual afterlife — and that those who have passed on are able to visit their loved ones from beyond the grave — is a popular belief. Since ghosts have yet to be definitively disproven by science, many maintain that this means their existence is still a possibility, which is why ghost-centric horror films and paranormal investigation reality shows are so popular.
I've certainly had my fair share of spooky encounters that seem otherwise inexplicable, and I know many people with similar stories.
But certain places are considered "hotbeds" of supernatural activity — and a couple claims to have captured a photo of ghosts at one of them.
Scroll through to learn more about this creepy picture!
Thumbnail Photo: Facebook / Jessica Martinez-Mausling // YouTube / Warner Bros. / Movieclips
[H/T: Redbook]
The Stanley Hotel is a 142-room Colonial Revival hotel located in Estes Park, Colorado, near the Rocky Mountain National Park.
The hotel was opened in 1909.
The hotel's claim to fame owes everything to a fateful visit by horror writer Stephen King in 1974.
The property, and the author's own experience as a recovering alcoholic, inspired his bestselling 1977 novel, The Shining.
Stephen, his wife, Tabitha, and their young son only stayed for one night, after bad weather forced the family to turn back from traveling to the Rocky Mountains National Park.
But that was enough for the spooky atmosphere to infect the author's subconscious.
While staying in the hotel, Stephen dreamed of a dark presence chasing his toddler son, Joe, down The Stanley's empty corridors:
“That night, I dreamed of my 3-year-old son running through the corridors, looking back over his shoulder, eyes wide, screaming. He was being chased by a fire-hose. I woke up with a tremendous jerk, sweating all over, within an inch of falling out of bed. I got up, lit a cigarette, sat in the chair looking out the window at the Rockies, and by the time the cigarette was done, I had the bones of the book firmly set in my mind.”
From there, The Shining was born.
The hotel in Stephen's novel (and the eventual 1980 film adaptation) was called The Overlook.
While the Stanley Kubrick movie didn't film at the actual hotel, the lesser-known 1997 television miniseries adaptation did film there.
Because of its ties to The Shining, The Stanley has gained renown in the years since as a hotbed of apparent paranormal activity. They even cater to horror fans with "spirit tours."
The Mausling family visited The Stanley Hotel in September 2017. Jessica, Jay, and their kids participated in a "spirit tour" of the 108-year-old hotel.
But it wasn't until they returned home that they noticed something shocking about one of the photos Jay had snapped.
One picture shows other tour participants sitting around in one of the common areas.
Everything appears normal — except for the clear-as-day apparition, which looks like a little ghost girl standing right on the staircase. There's another apparent apparition to the left of the bannister as well, though the second figure isn't quite as clear as the "little girl" standing dead center.
The scariest part? There were no young girls in their 11-member group tour.
“At first, we tried to be logical and think we somehow missed her so we asked our kids, their girlfriends, and our friend if they remembered seeing a little girl,” the Mauslings told Huffington Post. “Nobody did. We do not remember seeing anything on the stairs when we took the picture.”
Ben Hansen, a former FBI agent turned host of Syfy's Fact or Fakes: Paranormal Files, was impressed with the legitimacy of the Mauslings' photo.
"I really like this photo," Ben told Huffington Post. "Assuming that it’s not doctored, it ranks up there as one of the best photos of possible paranormal evidence I’ve seen. If it is faked, I’ve got to hand it to them for their level of detail and creativity, because there’s usually enough easy signs to suggest hoaxing."
The Mauslings' photo isn't the only picture of what seems to be a ghost hanging out at The Stanley.
In April 2016, another ghost "photobomb" went viral.
Hotel guest Henry Yau was snapping photos of The Stanley's lobby when he captured an image of what appears to be a woman in period clothing standing to the left of the staircase.
Do you believe in ghosts?
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